1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to operable wall partitions and, more particularly, to such operable wall partitions which are vertically movable between raised and lowered positions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known to use movable wall partitions to selectively divide interior building spaces, such as conference room, halls and school gymnasium, into smaller interior spaces.
Currently available operable wall partitions are typically formed of vertically extending wall panels or curtains slidably mounted at an upper end thereof in horizontal overhead tracks or rails fixed to an overhead structure of a building. Because such horizontally displaceable wall partitions slide from one end of the tracks to the other end thereof, the loads on the overhead structure of the building are not evenly distributed, especially when they are displaced to a storage position. In some cases, this can cause deflection problems as well as highly concentrated loading problems. Furthermore, horizontally movable wall partitions requires extra storage space for the partition in the plan area of the building.
In an attempt to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks, it has been proposed to replace conventional horizontally slidable wall partitions by vertically folding wall partitions. Such a vertically folding wall partition system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,464 issued on Nov. 5, 1991 to Peterson. More specifically, this patent discloses a vertically folding wall partition system comprising a plurality of arm support panels pivotally mounted in series on either side of a vertically contractible/expandable pantograph skeleton framework hanging from an overhead structure in the central plane of the wall partition. Each arm support panel includes a pair of elongated arm segments pivotally connected to each other via a hinge moving towards and away from the plane of the pantograph skeleton framework in response to vertical movements of the point of attachment of the arm support panel with the skeleton framework. The provision of the skeleton framework causes all the arm support panels to fold and unfold simultaneously.
Although the vertical folding wall partition described in the above mentioned patent is effective, it has been found that there is a need for a new and simplified vertically folding wall partition which is adapted to fold in a predetermined sequence in order to prevent the bottom panels of the wall partition to interfere with objects placed near the wall partition, as the panels move outwardly away of the plane of the wall towards the collapsed, folded position thereof.